ItsBruce:
I saw the event I described. The officers were not following a suspect vehicle. I saw that. They were not performing official duties, except to the extent they were in marked cars and presumably on duty. They were only sitting through a full cycle of a long red light. If a civilian did the exact same thing, he or she would have been cited and rightly so.
How do you know that the officers weren't responding to a call. It's pretty routine for us to drive through red lights, stop signs, etc without any emergency equipment on due to certain types of calls. If it upset you that much, why didn't you call the department to complain? When this happens at my department, the supervisor usually informs the "non-assuming" citizen that squads were responding to a hold up alarm, or some other incident that allows for a silent run.
I never assume. I consider only the evidence and those inferences the law says I may draw from it.
Uhh...yes, you did assume. You based your ASSUMPTION on what you saw, not what may have actually happened. Now, it is possible that these officers just plain ole ran the red, but neither you nor I can prove that.
I am really offended by your statement that "We cut each other small breaks," and especially your suggestion that I "[g]et over it." Who cuts civilians small breaks? Cutting each other breaks is one of the things that makes the public lose respect for police officers. Of all people, police officers should follow the traffic laws meticulously because they know them even better than civilians.
Offended? Hmmm...I'm sure that nobody in any other line of work ever cuts co-workers breaks, right? How about the friend of a doctor that gets a prescription, or the parts guy that gives another parts guy a discount or freebies? What about the bartenders buddy that gets a free beer or shot every now and then? It happens everywhere!
Who cuts civilians small breaks you ask? I DO...ALL THE TIME!! In fact, 3 people today that I stopped got breaks. Don't try telling me that I don't give breaks. I give more breaks than tickets and arrests. How about the break I gave to an ER doctor hurrying to the hospital in his personal car? He was breaking the law you know! Or the military officer that was trying to hustle home after being away for a year? Or the mom that was on her way to the emergency room because junior got hurt? Geesh...looks like I'm gonna have to tag more people!
Oh, and you think that we lose respect from the public because of small breaks? I would think that the public would be willing to cut us some slack because of what we do. Oh wait, don't tell me you only like us when you need us, right?
BTW: No one has ever suggested I have liberal tendencies.
Well, at least one person has...